Musical instrument



May 30, 1950 H. B. GROW MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed Sept. 29,1914? INVENTOR HarlowB. Grow. BY fa I ATTORNEY Patented May 30, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT ()F'FlCE 2,509,429 MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Harlow B. Grow, Linden, Mo.

Application September 29, 1947, Serial No. 776,694

4 Claims.

This invention relates to wind instruments in general, and particularly to the kind which may be termed a bagpipe.

Bagpipes, in the sense known today, employ a mouthpiece or intake issuing into a wind bag which is held between the side and the arm for the purpose of compressing it. With the wind bag are connected several sound chambers and especially one provided with fingering holes for playing a melody, the other sound chambers serving to provide bass tones. In the bagpipe as presently used the wind bag must be compressed in order to supply air to the various sound chambers.

The present invention, while represented more or less as a toy, employs a diflerent principle in that instead of a compressible wind bag, depending upon inflation and forceful compression, there is substituted a resilient, self-collapsing wind receptacle, adapted to automatically supply the necessary air under pressure to a sound chamber. The receptacle is inflatable through a relatively large passage provided in the mouthpiece, a check valve arrangement prevents air from re-entering the mouthpiece and escaping therethrough, thus forcing the air into a bleeder outlet which supplies air to the sound chamber. When sufficiently inflated the wind receptacle becomes gradually deflated as it delivers air under pressure into the sound chamber, such deflation being automatic due to the inherent, self-collapsing tendency of the resilient material employed in the production of the receptacle.

It is therefore the prime object of the present invention to provide a musical wind instrument wherein between its air intake and its outlet there is interposed a wind receptacle of highly resilient material which is intended to be inflated through the intake and which is adapted to deliver compressed air to the outlet or the sound chamber, such delivery of air to the latter being caused by the resiliency and the tendency of the receptacle material to collapse and to revert to its deflated form.

A further object of this invention is to provide a toy bagpipe of a relatively inexpensive and simple construction consisting of a mouthpiece and a sound chamber, and between which two elements there is interposed an air directing member provided with a relatively wide air supplying passage connected with the mouthpiece and a relatively narrow air delivering passage connected with the sound chamber, and which two passages issue into and are connected with One another by a resilient air receptacle made of row or bleeder passage ll.

resilient material, such as rubber or any other resilient plastic which is capable of being inflated through the mouthpiece and deflated by its own resiliency while delivering air through and to without the sound chamber.

The foregoing and still further objects of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the ensuing description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the device with the air receptacle removed:

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof with portions of the device in section and showing a resilient air receptacle in the form of a balloon; and

Fig. 3 is a section taken on lines 33 of Fig. 2.

Referring now specifically to the figures, numeral iii denotes a mouthpiece, while numeral H indicates the sound chamber of the device. The latter, for example, comprises an elongated pipe open at its lowermost end and having a sound producing cut-out l2 and a plurality of tone-changing fingering holes i3. Interposed between mouthpiece I0 and sound chamber H is a bar portion of a substantially T-shaped air directing or air passage member i4 having a side extension or stem It in which is provided a relatively wide air passage [6 and a relatively nar- The side extension is enlarged at its end as at 18 to provide an attaching seat for the mouth 19 of balloon 20, shown in its inflated state. Mouth 19 of the ,balloon is preferably removably attached at the flanged or enlarged end it of extension I5, as for instance by means of a rubber band 19. The enlarged end of extension 25 is recessed at 2i and in the recess there is housed a one-way check valve 22 secured at 23 and normally sealing the outer end of passage I 6. The interior end of passage i8 connects with mouthpiece It while the interior end of narrow or bleeder passage l'l issues into the sound producing end of chamber ii. The outer ends of both passages l6 and I1 terminate at the face of recess 26, balloon 29 thus serving as connector of the two air passages. Valve 22 opens under force of air pressure directed through mouthpiece it into the balloon but automatically closes when pressure ceases, whereby air is prevented from re-entering the mouthpiece and is directed into bleeder passage l1.

As seen from Fig. 3, the difference in size between the wider passage IB and bleeder passage I? is substantial. Due to the relatively large dimension of passage I6 the inflation of the balloon is simple, easy and relatively quick. Inaspressing the balloon to supply air to the sound chamber, as is the case in a bagpipe.

Referring again to Fig. 3, air outlet passage l1 terminates above an air directing blocklilinserted in the upper end of pipe l-L. End face 24 of the block is flush with cut 25 of cut-out [2. The air thus passing through passage I! over-the inclined face 26 of block 23 is iorced against the keen edge 21 produced by the slanting-portion of cut-out l2 in pipe H.

As indicated in Figures" 1- and'2, the-mouth- "piece, thesound chamber aswell as interposed member I4 are preferably madeof substantially rigid material such as plastic, although they may be made'of any other suitable'matter such as wood or metal.

Obviously'sound producing chamber H may be substituted by any other suitable sound producing structure, and by'the' same token the entire construction of the device maybe altered to meet different requirements-all without departing from the scope of the present invention aspresented in the-annexed claims.

I claim:

1. In a toy bagpipe, amouthpieca'asound chamber fixedly associated therewith and forming a continuation thereof, asubstantially T- 'shaped member interposed" with its" bar portion between the" mouthpiece" and the" sound chamher, the stem or side extension'of that member having a relatively large passage forming a'continuation of said mouthpiece, and another, substantially smaller passage leading into said sound chamber, a resilient, inflatable'element"secured to said side extension for connecting aid'p'assages 'of the interposed member, and" ache'ck 'valve for said large passage -adaptedto prevent air from'flowing from'the inflatable'ele'ment back into the mouthpiece, thus causing a; flow-f air under pressure throughthe smaller-passag into "the sound chamber;

2. In a wind instrument having a mouthpiece and a sound chamber, a substantially T-shaped air conveying member interposed with its bar portion between the mouthpiece and the sound chamber, its side extension having a relatively wide air passage connected at one end with the mouthpiece and a relatively narrow air passage issuing at one end into the sound chamber, a resilient, inflatable, self-collapsing balloon associated with the side extension of said member so that'it connects the other ends of the passages, and a one-way check valve opening into the "balloon normally closing the other end of the wide air passage.

3. In. a, wind instrument, the combination with a mouthpiece and a sound chamber, of an air conveyingmember having a side extension interposed between said mouthpiece and the sound chamber and having a relatively wide air passage and a relatively narrow bleeder passage, the side extension of'said memberhaving an enlargedend provided-with a recess, a one-way check valve disposed in said recess andnormally sealing the 'outerend of the wide passage, and a balloon-re- --movably attachedto the enlarged end of the side extension and serving asconnector for the two passages.

4. In a wind instrument, the combination with a rigid'mouth-piece and a rigid sound chamber, of a rigid air conveying member having a rigid side extension interposed between-said mouthpiece-and said sound chamber, saidside extension having-anenlargedend witha recess therein, a relatively wide and a relatively narrow air-passage providedin saidmember, both passages terminating-in said recess, a one-way check; :valve' in said recess and cooperatingwith said wide air passage; and a toy balloon removably associated with said enlarged end of theside-extension. HARLOW B, GROW.

REFERENCES CITED 'Theffollowing references are of record in the file "of this patent:

UNITED STATES" PATENTS Number Name Date 152,554 Gade June 30, 1874 1,498,280 Izold June 1'7, 1924 is 2,209,427 Swanson July 3.0; 1940 

